Creating Successful User Experience (UX) on the Unhappy Path

Software products are systems of components working together to create a harmonious experience. When thinking about the experience and looking at flows it’s easy to get started down the “happy path”. Sometimes users stray from the perfect flow and creating the best experience means making sure the alternative paths are as well designed as the happy path.

There are nine states to guide the design process for components. These states will repeat based on any change of your application’s state and by designing for these changes, you can create a refined experience for users no matter which path they choose to take.

The nine states are:

1. Nothing

The state before a component does anything. It may be the first time the user sees it such as a welcome screen or overlays for onboarding.

2. Loading

Content is coming, it’s just taking a moment. Who likes loading? I don’t. Ideally, no one would see it, but sometimes it cannot be helped. The loading experience should provide feedback, reduce the users’ uncertainty, offer a reason to wait, and reduce the users’ perception of time.

9. Normal/Hover/Focus/Disabled/Expanded-Toggled-Selected

Thinking through and designing for these nine states empowers you to empathize with your users. With many of these states either forgotten or ignored by teams, this is a huge area of opportunity for you to leapfrog your competitors.